There is enough evidence to suggest that the meeting between Nilekani, the PM and the FM, brought forth a volte face in the government stand on UIDAI.

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NEW DELHI: Four days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first public statement surprisingly backing the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani met with the PM and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and persuaded the new regime to persist with Aadhaar numbers and the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme.

This meeting — a life-saver for the Aadhaar programme — happened on the first of July. On July 5, Modi sought a 100 crore enrolment target under Aadhaar at the ‘earliest’, casting aside earlier notions that the new government will go slow on the UIDAI project.

Nilekani, who was appointed by Congress to head UIDAI in 2009, was in Delhi in the last days of June to vacate the government bungalow allotted to him in Lutyens’ Delhi. It is during this period that he — and UIDAI — sought and obtained a meeting with the prime minister and the finance minister. Nine days after this meeting, Jaitley, in the Union Budget, increased allocation for UIDAI from Rs 1,550 crore (revised estimate) to Rs 2,039 crore.

There is enough evidence to suggest that the crucial July 1 meeting between Nilekani, the prime minister and the FM, brought forth a volte face in the government stand on UIDAI.

Only two days before this, on July 3, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Telecom, IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Planning Minister Rao Inderjeet Singh had met with top officials to discuss UIDAI versus the National Population Register (NPR), an entity under the home ministry that conducts the decadal census. The conclusions did not favour UIDAI in the form it was running till then.

Instead, it was decided that a panel of secretaries will work to ensure greater synergy between NPR and Aadhaar to prevent duplication in efforts to capture biometrics and the costs thereof. Earlier, BJP had also made plenty of anti-Aadhaar noises during its election campaign.

Shortly after the party won, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told ET: “Our concerns with Aadhaar are two-fold: the lack of a legal backing and the security implications.”

“There was a vacuum between May 16 happen to Aadhaar,” a source close to UIDAI said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. This is also the time when the home ministry made a play to control Aadhaar. Highly placed sources say a proposal to move UIDAI to the home ministry was being explored.

This rattled UIDAI, which functions under the authority of the Planning Commission headed by the PM.

Says an UIDAI official, speaking on the condition of anonymity: “We were not even consulted.” and July 5. It was unclear what would That was the backdrop for Nilekani’s meeting with the PM and FM. Nilekani argued that by “removing ghosts and duplicates from the beneficiary lists of welfare programmes, Aadhaar can help India save Rs 50,000 crore which would help with the fiscal deficit”, sources told ET.

The ongoing litigation in the Supreme Court was also discussed at the meeting. “The Bill is ready to be passed. You could get it passed in this session itself. Once you pass the Bill, the SC will lay off the matter,” Nilekani reportedly told Jaitely, sources close to UIDAI said. Nilekani declined comment. Questions sent to Nripendra Misra, principal secretary to the PM and PMO’s press officer remained unanswered.

Instead, two Gujarat cadre officers — one retired and one still serving — were asked to list out the virtues and problems of UIDAI and NPR. After a discussion, Modi unequivocally went in favour of UIDAI.

There is now clarity on many issues. “Aadhaar stays in the Planning Commission. Direct Benefits Transfer scheme is being revived,” the source close to UIDAI said.

But some questions remain. It is expected that Modi will announce a new financial inclusion drive on August 15. Banks are likely to be encouraged to open 20 crore new accounts, each bundled with an overdraft ranging from Rs 1,000-5,000. It is yet unclear if these accounts will be Aadhaar-based.